Anchor points

A well-written resume greatly increases the chances of getting the vacancy you are interested in - even beginners who have no work experience know this. No one has any difficulties filling out most of the items - you just need to succinctly and correctly present the facts of your work history, professional skills and abilities. But the “additional information” section raises questions for many. Often the effectiveness of a resume is reduced precisely because of this “creative” block - applicants write almost everything that comes to mind about themselves and their hobbies.

What should be provided as additional information to interest the employer?

Four pillars of “additional information”

This column usually indicates everything that is not directly related to professional experience, but can complement it beneficially.

Proficiency in foreign languages

This should always be written in your resume, regardless of your field of activity. Knowledge of languages ​​is now welcomed everywhere. If there are certificates of completion of linguistic courses, certificates of proficiency in a particular language, they can also be indicated in the additional information column.

PC proficiency

This skill should also be reflected on your resume. Moreover, now the phrase about “confident use of a computer” may not be enough. Here it is advisable to list those computer programs that you know how to work with.

Driving experience

It is worth mentioning the presence of a driver's license and its category if the vacancy for which the applicant is applying is related to constant movement in personal or official vehicles. Here, by the way, it wouldn’t hurt to write about your accident-free driving record, of course, if you have one.

Family status

In the description of this item, the phrase “I am married, I am raising a daughter (son)” is sufficient. You can also indicate the age of the child, but it is better to do this if the child is over three years old. Let’s be frank, the employer may consider the child’s younger age to be a “handicap” to the future employee’s full-time work activity.

If the applicant has not yet started a family, a simple “Single (not married)” is sufficient.

About hobbies - with caution

Additional information may also include information about hobbies, points of pride, and a suitable schedule, but only if all this is relevant to the vacant position.

Preferred mode of operation

This is worth indicating if the work schedule is fundamental for the applicant. Here you can also note the readiness for long or short-term business trips, for irregular working hours.

Hobbies, interests

This information can also fit harmoniously into a resume. The main thing is that it somehow resonates with the position that the applicant plans to get. In other words, you should write about your love for cross-stitching or aircraft modeling in those cases when you are planning to get a job in a crafts store or a store specializing in the sale of components for complex technical creativity, respectively.

Achievements

It is also appropriate to write about them if they are in any way related to future work. You need to indicate only the most striking implemented projects, the author or participant of which were significant awards.

Here you can talk about your social activities, membership in any professional associations and unions. Employers are interested in employees with an extensive base of work contacts.


Graduates of higher and secondary educational institutions who do not have professional work experience can reflect in this paragraph information about their participation in scientific, creative, and sports competitions, and about awards received during their studies.

The listing of personal qualities requires special attention. Many people write about “communication skills, responsibility, punctuality and stress resistance” in the “additional information” section. But now this list, wandering from one resume to another, looks frivolous to employers. A brief listing of professional preferences, information about methods and style of work will be much more effective.

This is definitely not worth writing

Now let’s note what you shouldn’t write about in your resume:

  • the reasons why you are interested in this or that position in the chosen company;

This is reported in a separate document attached to the resume - a cover letter. By the way, it is the cover letter, according to many employers, that indicates the seriousness of the applicant and his professional maturity.

  • personal information (not to be confused with ).

Information about religion, zodiac sign, living conditions, criminal record, etc. will be completely unnecessary for a resume. Such data will definitely not give the document significance or “professional weight” to its compiler.

If you follow these simple rules for filling out the “additional information” section and do not try to impress the employer with the variety of your interests and skills that are not related to the specifics of work in the company he heads, you can be sure that the likelihood of receiving an invitation to an interview will increase significantly.

Through the Internet. There are many services that allow you to post your data and send it in response to a specific vacancy. A resume is a way to directly interest an employer and increase your chances of getting the most suitable position.

To ensure that information about you is not faceless, you need to fill out additional skills in your resume. They will help a potential employer make a choice in favor of your candidacy.

Family status

For most employers, this point becomes decisive when choosing a particular candidate. Examples of additional information in a resume: current marital status, presence of children.

Sometimes women believe that having children reduces their chances of getting a job. The statement is controversial, since in the eyes of certain employers, this fact, on the contrary, is considered a big plus: if a future employee already has small children, there is less chance that she will go on maternity leave again in the near future.

Oddly enough, this point may be even more important when hiring men than women. In many companies, the corporate culture is such that only married employees are given promotions, since family is an indicator of willingness to take on responsibility.

At the same time, a potential employee should not describe their marital status and children in too much detail. If you indicate how old your children are, what grade they go to, what they do in their free time and what they like to eat for breakfast, the employer may reasonably assume that you are much less interested in work than what is going on at home, so everything You will spend your working hours talking on the phone with your wife. The choice, of course, will be made in favor of another candidate. Examples of additional information in a resume for a man: married, two children.

Foreign language skills

This is another prime example of what to include in the additional information section of your resume to attract a potential employer. Even if the position does not require knowledge of foreign languages, knowledge of English, even basic, is a plus in the eyes of the recruiter. This indicates a certain cultural level of the applicant, and also shows that the potential employee is easy to train and strives for professional growth.

Be sure to indicate which languages ​​you speak and at what level: basic, intermediate or fluent. Examples of additional information in a resume: English - fluent, German - basic.

Computer skills

Yes, we all own a computer to one degree or another. It is difficult to imagine the modern world without gadgets. However, certain professions require additional knowledge and skills in working with computers.

As a rule, office positions require you to have knowledge of Word, Excel and Outlook, so it is advisable to immediately indicate on your resume that you are fluent in Microsoft Office. Also be sure to mention if you have worked with operating systems other than Windows. This can be a big plus in companies that use Mac OS. Remember, the employer is always interested in applicants who do not have to be taught the basics from scratch.

Another advantage for virtually any position will be knowledge of graphics programs. They are increasingly used not only in the office, but also in related professions, so proficiency in Photoshop and Corel Draw is also worth mentioning.

Driver license

The ability to drive a vehicle is important not only for professional drivers. This point may also be important for positions such as courier, delivery service worker, sales representative, regional manager. Some employers are willing to provide company transport if the applicant has a driver's license.

An example of what additional information to include in your resume on this issue is given below: driving license category B and BE, driving experience - 5 years.

Achievements

What additional information is needed in a resume? Of course, the list would not be complete without listing your achievements at your previous job. In the main part of your resume, you have already listed your direct responsibilities, but some are worth highlighting separately, especially if they are directly related to the desired position.

If you are applying for a position as a department head, be sure to indicate that you supervised several people in your previous position. Perhaps you want to work in HR and have previously instructed interns and new employees? It's time to mention this.

Even if you don't have experience directly related to the position you want, your past accomplishments can set you apart from other applicants.

Schedule

A very important point when looking for a job. Unfortunately, most of us take the five-day work week for granted. At the same time, employers are gradually moving away from the five-day format for objective reasons: important meetings are often held on Saturday and Sunday, and if the company has branches in the USA or Japan, then the working day is actually shifted by ten to twelve hours.

When working in trade or manufacturing, many people prefer a five-day work week, a schedule of two days of twelve hours, alternating with two days of rest. Some people prefer a schedule every other day, while others even like to work on a rotational basis, for example, a week every other week.

Don't hesitate to tell your employer about your wishes! Perhaps he just needs someone who will work on Saturday and Sunday, and he is ready to give you the weekend in the middle of the week.

Examples of filling out additional information in a resume:

  • Schedule: two days, 12 hours each, from 9:00 to 21:00, two days off.
  • Schedule - five days a week, from 10:00 to 19:00, days off: Tuesday and Friday.

Willingness to travel and/or relocate

Unexpected business trips happen in almost any position, so we advise you to include this item. This is especially true for people who indicate the presence of children in their marital status, but are nevertheless ready to travel. Otherwise, the employer may regard the family as a kind of barrier between the employee and travel. Indeed, organizing everyday life when you are constantly away is not an easy task, and parents begin to miss their children.

The same applies to readiness to move. If you are applying for one of the management positions, you may well be offered to head a regional office in another city. Are you okay with changing your place of residence? Indicate this right away; the employer is unlikely to have psychic abilities and will figure it out himself.

Of course, you can argue that such things are discussed at the interview, but in the case when you are looking for a job via the Internet, a personal meeting with a potential employer may not happen if your resume does not interest him. Maximum information is the key to ensuring that the recruiter will highlight your profile among others and want to get to know you better.

Additional education

Let’s make a reservation right away: you shouldn’t indicate everything in this column. Indeed, there are positions where the presence of additional diplomas and a penchant for self-development are encouraged, but, you see, it is stupid to write about having a diploma in 3D modeling courses if you are applying for the position of a personal driver.

At the same time, if you are applying for a driver position at an embassy, ​​a diploma of language courses will be a plus. However, try not to overdo it: the employer may consider that, despite all your qualifications, you will simply be bored working in the position for which you are applying. On the other hand, the presence of a bunch of diplomas for an applicant submitting a resume for a rather modest vacancy may indicate that this is an intermediate stage for you. The recruiter will assume that you will leave as soon as you find a better job, so he will prefer to hire someone with more modest qualifications.

If you are unsure whether you should include a certain degree on your resume, put yourself in the shoes of a potential employer. Hand on heart, would you hire such an applicant or would you prefer someone, no matter how paradoxical it may sound, less qualified?

In case you think that additional education is still worth indicating, this is what an example of additional information about yourself in a resume might look like: title of diploma, specialization, dates of study, electronic copy of the certificate or diploma.

Hobbies related to the desired position

Before specifying in detail everything you are interested in and do in your free time, we advise you to make inquiries about the corporate culture of the company where you want to work. Perhaps the company regularly practices corporate camping trips or extreme sports. In this case, they are unlikely to decide to hire a girl who lists crocheting as a hobby, since there is a high chance that she will not fit into the team.

There are some general tips for those who want to include a hobby on their resume. Firstly, Most employers welcome employees who lead a healthy lifestyle. The logic is clear: at a minimum, they will take sick leave less often. List an outdoor sport, such as jogging or cycling, as a hobby.

Secondly, be more precise with your definitions. By writing “Internet” in the hobby column, you will confuse the recruiter. Most likely, he will assume that you are into social networks or browser games, and will never realize that you create websites in your free time.

Third, Avoid platitudes. Many people list literature as a hobby; this pastime won’t surprise anyone. If you still want to display your love of reading on your resume, list the genres you are interested in: fantasy, documentary, science fiction, novels.

And finally, the hobbies indicated in the additional information in the resume (examples) illustrate the personal qualities of the applicant as best as possible. A person who loves to cross stitch is seen by employers as patient and level-headed. A potential employee who enjoys skydiving is likely to be a risk-taker and adapter to change. Before listing your hobbies, think about how they describe you and how you want the recruiter to perceive you.

This section is quite small - compared to the block on work experience, for example - but important. This is one of the most read sections of a resume: it largely determines whether an employer will study your resume more carefully or switch to the resumes of other applicants.

It is important to make this block meaningful, but not too voluminous. A text of up to five sentences is sufficient.

What to include in this section - “About Me”

To get started, do a little self-analysis and answer the following questions:

  • what skills and qualities do you consider to be your clear advantages (you are better at them than others, or these skills and qualities are rare);
  • what types of work are you most effective at?
  • what professional achievements do you have;
  • what awards, certificates, diplomas and other documents you have that confirm your competence.

Essentially, these points are a plan for composing text for the “About Me” section.

In this section of your resume, you need to provide information that sets you apart from other applicants and that convinces the employer that you are the best candidate for the job.

Before writing the “About Me” section, carefully read the job advertisement again. Perhaps the employer has special requirements. For example, for a translator it is important to have an open visa, and you have it. Or for a sales manager, it is important to have your own transport and license, and you have them. Be sure to indicate this in the text about yourself.

What you shouldn’t write in the “About Me” section

There is no need to repeat the information described in the resume. For example, copy the list of skills (there is a section “Abilities and Skills” for this).

You should not give a fragment of your autobiography, as in the following example:

“I, Alexey Anatolyevich Ivanov, was born on September 15, 1967. In 1985, he graduated from 8 classes and entered the Electromechanical College. In 1988 he graduated from technical school and was drafted into the Border Troops. He served in the army and, after a freelance inspection, entered the USSR KGB school No. 302. After graduating from school, he worked in operational work. In 2001, he retired from the authorities. Computer skills: confident user (Word, Excel, 1C, Internet, various search and information systems, databases). Personal qualities: goodwill, hard work, discipline, activity, exactingness, accuracy. Additional information: sociable, efficient, energetic, I can work in a team, I get things done.”

You should not provide a list of personal qualities in the “About Me” section, as in this example:

“Stress resistance, dedication, focus on results and quality, healthy lifestyle, self-education, easy learning.”

To inform the employer about the personal qualities of the applicant, there is a section “Personal Qualities”.

Your text should not be template. It should reflect your unique professional experience, you as a professional and as a person.

Don’t forget to note in the “About Me” section if you have any awards in your professional field. For example:

  • For the vacancy “translator”: “In 2013, awarded a diploma from the VINCI 2013 Innovation Awards Competition (International Region).”
  • For the vacancy “Head of the Labor Safety Department”: “1st place among enterprises of the Temryuk region in the competition “Organization of labor protection work.”

Examples of successful wording for the “About Me” section in a resume


    Deputy Director for Economics and Finance

High organizational skills, integrity, perseverance in achieving goals, discipline, dedication, responsibility, exactingness, quick self-learning. Compliance with the principles of business ethics, honesty in meeting business obligations. Analytic skills. Knowledge in the field of accounting and tax accounting, labor legislation, labor economics, forms and systems of remuneration, labor standardization methods, the basics of business planning, financial analysis and financial flow management. Knowledge of the specifics of financial and accounting activities, building a budgeting and management accounting system, understanding the basics of strategic marketing and management of an organization, the desire to improve business processes. Confident user of the Microsoft Office package (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint), legal systems and programs - Garant, Consultant+, Chief Accountant System, Financial Director System. Proficiency in programs for automation of accounting, management activities and electronic reporting (KonturExtern, SBiS++). Availability of recommendations.


    Head of Production, Chief Mechanic, Chief Engineer

Management of a team of more than 100 people. Organization of workshop and production work. Maintenance and repair of equipment and vehicle fleet of the enterprise. Conducting negotiations and concluding contracts. Conducting audits. Resolving administrative and economic issues.


    Commercial Director

Sales management and after-sales service organization. Personal sales experience. Negotiations at all levels. Development of pricing policy. Maintaining a client base. Drawing up and concluding supply and sales contracts. Analysis of the competitive environment. Logistics. Product promotion (exhibitions, Internet, media).


    Head of Legal Service

I have high organizational skills and can lead a team of 5 or more people. Able to organize systematic work and precise implementation of assigned tasks. I have many years of experience in legal work in various departments and organizations. I have a high degree of knowledge of criminal, civil, administrative, tax, labor, procedural and other branches of law. I have business writing skills, interpersonal relations techniques, and business etiquette rules. Experienced PC user. Self-organized, efficient, constantly focused on results. Driving license categories A, B, C.


    Office manager, administrator

Professional skills: experienced PC and office equipment user. Organization of document flow, development of regulations and instructions. Office management, business communication skills. Ability to resolve conflicts. Organization and control of the work of subordinate services.


    Furniture wholesale department manager

Extensive practical experience and professional approach to working in the B2B, B2C segment. Ability to negotiate at all levels. Knowledge of standard business processes for introducing and promoting unknown manufacturers to the market. Computer skills: MS Office, 1C Enterprise. Ability to make independent decisions and take responsibility for them. The ability to convince and rally a team to achieve set goals. Experience in personnel selection, adaptation and motivation. Ability to delegate authority. Communication skills. Quick learner, perseverance and desire for professional growth.


    Accountant

Experience as a chief accountant - 7 years. Two higher educations, total experience of 12 years in accounting. Excellent knowledge of 1C 7.7, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, electronic reporting, Fireplace, ZiK, ZUP, Client Bank, Online Banking, Internet, office programs. Individual services for restoring accounting, tax reporting, reporting to the Pension Fund, on different taxation systems for LLCs and individual entrepreneurs.


    Mechanical engineer for baking equipment

Professional skills: I own all types of power tools; I own a welding machine. Computer skills: Internet, MS Word, MS Excel, Outlook, Bat, AutoCad, Monolit automated control system. Experience in public speaking in front of large audiences. Personal qualities: Ability to self-learn, punctuality, dedication, thoughtfulness, responsibility, communication skills. Driving license categories B, C.


    Excavator driver

Experience in the construction of gas condensate production in the north of the Tyumen region in a team (pile field), digging trenches for pipelines, arrangement of oil and gas condensate fields, piping of pipelines with a team of welders, construction of a booster station, central pumping station, oil refinery. Experience working on Kamatsu RS-200, 300. Hitachi ZX-330 ZX-450, on Terex 820 and GCB wheels. Experience in construction at the Messayakhinskoye field in Yakutia. Conscientious attitude towards work. There are no bad habits.


    Driver

Professional truck driver. 20 years behind the wheel. Driving license categories B, C, E. Experience driving foreign cars. Without bad habbits.

Elena Nabatchikova


Completely completed resume items increase your chances of winning the job ahead of your competitors. The additional information column, although it seems unimportant, allows the employer to learn more about you as a specialist, thereby creating the following advantages over other applicants:

Focus on the winning sides of your personality;

Provide information that is not related to your professional activities, but that complements your skills;

Leave information that you consider important, but could not be attributed to any of the main points of the resume.

It is important not to overdo it or provide a potential employer with anything that would compromise or hinder your career.

Filling rules

There are no strict guidelines on what should be written as additional information. This includes data that may change the overall impression of the candidate. The general requirements are:

The information must be relevant to the desired position;

Preference is given to professional skills rather than personal qualities;

The content should not repeat or refute information provided in other paragraphs.

If you are not sure that you have something to mention, it is better to leave the column blank.

What not to write about


Hobbies and habits that are not related to your work. There are many examples - breeding cats is not important when applying for a job as an economist, and taking ballroom dancing is not important when applying for a position as a programmer.

Features of character or lifestyle that show you not in the best light. You can talk about them during the first interview, if such a question is asked.

Clichés, hackneyed characteristics. Sociable, responsible, purposeful - all these qualities are written as carbon copies, do not attract the employer, and do not provide useful information about you.

Such information more often does harm than good to the applicant. But it can always be adjusted to change the overall impression.

Family status. There is nothing wrong if you write about your spouse and children. Sometimes this detail becomes a trump card. Example - when hiring a woman, the presence of a husband and a teenage child will become a certain guarantee that the employee will not go on maternity leave or be on permanent sick leave.

Thesis. If you are not a graduate looking for a first job in your specialty, the relevance of your thesis tends to zero.

Social activity. If you are sure that your volunteering at an animal shelter or being chosen as a senior housekeeper will be duly appreciated by your superiors, write about it. No - better remain silent.

Reason for leaving previous job. Everything is simple here. We are sure that the motives that prompted you to change jobs will show you in a favorable light - report them. No - don't specify.

Alternative specialties. If you are confident that you can cope not only with your main position, but also with part-time work, mention it.

As you can see, each example is worth thinking carefully about before including it in your resume.

What to write about


What really needs to be reflected in additional information?

Personal qualities

This includes the very same “communication skills” and “performance”. To move away from boring cliches, replace them with a description of the benefits they can bring to the company:

Instead of stress tolerance, I easily resolve conflict situations with the most demanding clients;

Replace responsibility with “I complete projects on time and pay close attention to customer requirements”;

Learning ability is “ready to learn on the job, I regularly attend seminars and lectures.

As for determination, it is better not to mention it at all - all your life and professional goals should be listed in the appropriate paragraph of your resume.

Special Skills

This includes driving skills, computer skills, and knowledge of foreign languages. But, again, you should write about them correctly. Indicate the category of driver's license and your experience. Describe what computer programs you know and what courses you have completed. It is advisable to confirm knowledge of the language at each level with appropriate certificates. You can add that you read specialized literature in the original language or have technical translation skills.

Additional education

There is no need to indicate all the courses and clubs that you have attended since school age. Mention only those that directly or indirectly relate to the vacant position. Example: I took the advanced course “1C: Accounting” and am receiving a second higher education in the specialty “Economics and Management in Mechanical Engineering”.

If you are just planning to continue your education, there is no need to mention it in your resume.

Achievements, awards

A medal for running the 100 m or a diploma for eating carrots at speed has nothing to do with work. But patents, scientific articles in magazines, certificates for conducting trainings demonstrate your best side.

Special opportunities, wishes

This should include everything that could not be covered before: willingness to go on long or short-term business trips, stay overtime, work from home. It is also worth clarifying whether you are ready to move. If not, you can indicate the region or distance of the workplace from home.

Some nuances

When filling out your resume, focus primarily on the desired position. Your skills, personal and professional qualities should be aimed at obtaining a vacant position. If you are preparing several resumes, adjust the data in accordance with the vacancy.

Examples

For the resume of a regional development manager, you can indicate:

Age 45 years;

Driving license categories B, C, 22 years of driving experience;

Willingness to travel;

Knowledge of English at level B2 is confirmed by a TOEFL certificate.

For the chief accountant:

Married, has a school-aged son;

I publish articles in the magazine “Accounting for those who understand”;

I participate in annual seminars on accounting and auditing;

Willing to work overtime during reporting periods.

Thus, this resume point emphasizes your strengths and sets you apart from your competitors.

A resume presupposes a laconic style of presenting information about the professional activities of applicants for vacancies: it is necessary to correctly reflect what position you are applying for, correctly present the facts of the “work history” in the relevant sections, informing potential employers of information about the education received, previous work experience, indicating contacts of colleagues, able to give you recommendations. Each section of the resume has a clearly defined format, which it is advisable to follow so that recruiters, when reviewing applicants’ profiles, can select from the general flow those information in which meets all the requirements for the applicant for the available vacancy. After all, it is much more convenient for employers to “work” with clearly structured and logically constructed documents that allow them to track those details from the professional life of candidates that should be characteristic of a potential employee. Only the last column of the resume does not have strictly defined rules for presenting information about the applicant, and in most cases even the possible nature of the content is not specified. Additional information can include everything that is not included in the main sections, but which, in your opinion, is directly related to the proposed position, will help to present your candidacy favorably and achieve a solution to the main task facing the applicant at the first stage of the job search - receive an invitation to an interview. Therefore, you should take filling out this section very seriously, trying to use another opportunity to demonstrate your individual traits that characterize you, on the one hand, as a specialist, and on the other, as a person with both advantages and disadvantages, and not only having at its disposal a “standard set” of personal qualities that migrate from one resume to another.

Recruiters spend on average no more than 15–20 seconds looking at one CV.

When Alexey Izvarin was compiling a resume, he did not take into account the fact that recruiters spend on average no more than 15–20 seconds looking at one CV, so his efforts to create a 3-page autobiography did not produce the expected result. Two-thirds of the total volume of the resume was occupied not by information relating to professional knowledge, skills and achievements, but by the column “Additional information”, in which Alexey, claiming to be a physicist, listed in detail all his hobbies - from ballroom dancing to hitchhiking around the world. Europe. After posting the document in this form on one of the job search sites, there were practically no responses from employers and recruitment agencies. And those recruiting managers who were interested in the applicant’s candidacy, in most cases offered positions that were in no way related to Alexey’s professional interests. “When I once again received an invitation to work as a bartender or DJ, I realized that my resume needed serious adjustment,” he says.

Our hero made one of the most common mistakes: instead of indicating the personal qualities and soft skills necessary to perform functional duties, he provided potential employers with a description of his hobbies, which had nothing to do with the purpose of posting a resume. Anna Kruchinina, head of the Automotive Industry department at the recruiting company MarksMan, has encountered similar situations more than once in her practice. Thus, one of the candidates listed all his free time activities: “Guitar, professional sound recording. Video shooting, creating a family film. Among my favorite sports, I would like to highlight ice hockey.” Olga Demidova, head of the “Jurisprudence” department of the recruiting company MarksMan, recalls the following resume of an applicant for the position of financial analyst: “... graduated from ballet school, studied acting, played in musical theater and in the KVN team, sang in a student academic choir; favorite dog – Bim.”

When creating a resume, it is better to concentrate only on those qualities of your personality that can provide the employer with useful information about you as a specialist.

Very often in this section, many candidates indicate their personal characteristics, such as determination, hard work, diligence, stress resistance. Such descriptions have turned into clichés, which, as if written as a carbon copy, are found in every third CV, so most recruiters no longer consider this “list” seriously. Therefore, when creating a resume, it is better to concentrate only on those qualities of your personality that can tell the employer useful information about you as a specialist: about your style and working methods, about your professional preferences, about the pros and cons. This “recruitment” will allow recruiters to create a fairly complete picture about you, and some facts will remain to be confirmed during the interview process. It makes no sense to include information about personal interests and hobbies, zodiac sign, height and weight in this section, because indicating such information can even work against you, reducing the overall information content, and, accordingly, the effectiveness of your CV.

Under no circumstances should you completely copy your responsibilities in this column. Firstly, there is no point in posting the same information in two different sections. Secondly, the recruiter has already familiarized himself with the list of your functional responsibilities and, seeing that the information is duplicated, will most likely skip this column without trying to find the additional information that you intended to convey to the employer. In addition, copying sections spoils the overall appearance of the document, giving the impression of being carelessly filled out: either the applicant did not have enough time to think through all the details, or he simply has nothing more to report about himself.

And you certainly shouldn’t offer your professional services in this section, for example: “Comprehensive services for legal entities in the field of intellectual property, the time for registering contracts is 50 days.” Employers will not appreciate this form of self-presentation. Companies have other departments to consider commercial proposals.

A competent specialist, or What to write about

In the “Additional Information” section, it would be good to focus on professional skills and competencies.

All information contained in the resume is intended to characterize the specialist as the best applicant for a particular vacancy. Anna Kruchinina believes that in the “Additional information” section it would be good to focus on professional skills and competencies, for example: “I have experience in restructuring companies, conducting personnel audits; experience in developing and implementing a job grading system.” The meaning of the column in question is not that after reading it, the recruiter will clearly imagine your detailed personal portrait, but to supplement your resume with the information necessary to obtain the desired position. Typically the following information is included:

  1. Family status.
  2. PC level.

The gradation “user”, “confident user”, “advanced user” is quite acceptable, but it is advisable to list in brackets the computer programs that you own. For example, “computer: confident user (I have skills in working with Adobe PhotoShop CS, Macromedia Flash MX 2004, 3DMax, CorelDraw 12).”

3. Degree of knowledge of foreign languages.

The generally accepted gradation is as follows:

  • basic level (Elementary, Pre-Intermediate);
  • technical, or reading professional literature (Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate);
  • free (Headway Advanced).

It is advisable not only to decipher what you mean by the degree of foreign language proficiency you indicate, but also to indicate the presence of certificates, if you have any: TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), CAE (Certificate in Advanced English), CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English).

4. Availability of a driver’s license and a car, as well as general driving experience.

This data should be indicated if the proposed work involves driving personal or company vehicles.

5. Preferred operating mode.

Olga Demidova adds: “I would recommend indicating your readiness for business trips. This also applies to readiness for irregular working hours.” It is advisable to specify an acceptable work schedule (from 9.00, 10.00, 11.00, 2/2 days, 1/3 days, etc.), if this issue is of fundamental importance to the applicant. You should mention the type of employment if the desired position provides various options: full-time, part-time (indicating the number of hours you are willing to devote daily/weekly to work and the time convenient for you), remote work, freelance.

6. Priority areas and reasons for looking for a job.

According to consultants, in the “Additional information” column you can provide information about priority areas of activity and the reasons for leaving your previous position. The first point is especially important for applicants for the positions of project managers, as well as top managers. The second is for candidates who seek to expand their functional responsibilities and move up the career ladder. You can also indicate that the applicant was on maternity leave for some time to care for a child, and this will immediately explain to the recruiter the break in her work activity.

7. Points of pride.

It makes sense to indicate the most striking projects, achievements, awards, titles that you have been awarded. Provide information about social activities, publications, patents, and membership in any professional association. List your public appearances at specialized conferences, seminars, and forums. At the same time, you should not indicate publications and reports that are not directly related to the proposed work.

8. Receiving additional education.

If you are currently receiving a second higher education, attending any specialized courses, improving your knowledge of foreign languages, or working on a dissertation, then all this information can be reflected as additional information. However, when you are just planning to enroll in advanced training courses, this is not worth mentioning. Employers are only interested in your knowledge and skills that you currently possess, and the recruiter may ask about your immediate and long-term plans during an interview.

“Each resume is individual, just like its owner,” sums up Dmitry Orlovsky, leading specialist in the HR department at Foxtrot. – Additional data should be meaningful and not overload the resume. The candidate should reflect only the most important thing - that which can influence the decision-making on his candidacy. And information such as “gender”, “age”, “health”, “hobbies”, “marital status”, “citizenship”, etc., are purely personal, and it is the right of each candidate to write them or not.”

You should not hope that incorrectly filling out the “Additional Information” section will not in any way affect the decision regarding your candidacy. As a rule, this column completes the summary, and the “last words,” according to psychologists, are remembered more clearly than others.